Dennis Barker has been the coach of Team USA Minnesota since it was formed in 2001 and oversees the training of both the male and female athletes in distances ranging from the 800/1500 meters up through the marathon - on the roads, track and cross country.

From the Team USA Minnesota training center he has coached an Olympian in the 1500 meters; and 23 U.S. National Champions including in the 1500 meters, 3000 meters and 10,000 meters on the track; mile, 10k, 15k, 10 mile, half-marathon, 20k, 25k and marathon on the road; 4k, 6k, 8k and 10k cross country. He has also placed athletes on 29 U.S. national teams competing in World Championship events including cross country, indoor track, outdoor track and road; and achieved 72 top three finishes in U.S. Championship events from 2001 through 2015.

Dennis ran collegiately at Golden Valley Lutheran College in Minneapolis, where he was an NJCAA All-American in track and cross country, and at Iowa State University, where he set a school record in the 10,000 meters and competed in the NCAA Cross Country Championships.

He was the head men’s and women’s cross country and track & field coach at Augsburg College in Minneapolis for 20 years, and is a USATF Level II distance and sprint coach. He has authored a number of training articles in a variety of publications and is a former editor of Minnesota Running & Track magazine.

Athletes use the facilities at Augsburg College and the University of Minnesota (the two institutions are a mile apart) and have health club memberships through a sponsorship arrangement with Life Time Fitness.

The Twin Cities area has an abundance of running trails in the metropolitan area, including a chain of lakes, river routes and numerous parks. The Minneapolis/St. Paul area is consistently ranked by Runner's World as one of the "10 Best Running Areas" in the country.